VOTE411 Voter Guide

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As a product of public education and the husband and son of retired public school teachers, I am extremely committed to working for public education in Lee's Summit and across the state of Missouri. I believe a strong public education system is critical to providing opportunities to all our citizens and to providing an educated and capable workforce to our businesses. Our state's investment in public schools has continued to drop over the last two decades as a portion of the total education budget, which puts more pressure on local property taxes and leads to inequities between school districts around the state.

I am also very concerned about the impact that skyrocketing assessments have on homeowner and renter ability to stay in their homes in Jackson County and across the state. I've talked to too many constituents who feel like the huge increases in assessments will be forcing them out of their homes.

My top priorities for legislative action in 2025 align with the areas I'm personally concerned about; public education and property taxes.

I believe that with the passage of the omnibus education bill (SB727), it is essential that we fully fund the Missouri education budget to fulfill the promises that were made to public education supporters when that bill passed. SB727 offers hope for increased support for public schools ... but only if the money is appropriated each and every year.

With regard to property taxes, I believe we need to cap annual assessment increases for homeowners, while balancing the need to fund our essential public services and education. I also believe we need to increase Missouri's senior property tax credit, which has not been updated since 2008. This would help low income seniors offset the cost of increasing taxes and rents and help them stay in their homes and communities.